The invention pertains to an internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle with a cylinder head, an intake manifold, and a fuel distributor rail,                where the downstream end of the intake manifold is connected by a flange to the intake channels in the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine,        where the fuel distributor rail is located at the downstream end of the intake manifold and is connected to fuel injection valves, and        where the internal combustion engine is installed in the motor vehicle in such a way that the intake manifold is located on the side of the cylinder head on which the external crash force will act during a crash.        
EP 0732 495 B1 describes an intake manifold for an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle which has at least one intake manifold channel, where at least one of the intake manifold channels has a predetermined break zone, which is essentially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the channel. This gives the intake manifold better behavior in a crash. When a crash occurs, the intake manifold breaks along the predetermined break zone on the longitudinal axis and thus absorbs some of the energy of the crash.
A protective device for a fuel rail is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,77,132 B2. This device is located underneath the intake manifold and is attached to the fuel rail. When a crash occurs, the protective device wraps itself plastically around the fuel rail and thus protects the fuel line from damage which might otherwise have been caused by the deformation of the intake manifold. The intake manifold absorbs some of the impact energy, and the fuel line remains undamaged. Thus, no fuel is able to leak out.